Windows 8.1 Update 2? No such thing, says Microsoft

There were many rumours floating about Microsoft’s plans on the road to Windows 9 – for quite some time we were led to believe that a new major update (imaginatively called Update 2) will be released for Windows 8.1 with several new features. Today, Microsoft addressed these rumours.

It seems that there is no Update 2 in the pipeline – here’s the scoop straight from Microsoft:

In April, we released a bigger, more comprehensive package of improvements to Windows 8.1 called the Windows 8.1 Update. We did the same for Server too, with Windows Server 2012 R2 Update. As we said at the time, our goal is to continue to deliver improvements to Windows through regular updates in order to respond more quickly to customer and partner feedback. After all, we already have a regular monthly update process that includes security and non-security updates. With the above in mind, rather than waiting for months and bundling together a bunch of improvements into a larger update as we did for the Windows 8.1 Update, customers can expect that we’ll use our already existing monthly update process to deliver more frequent improvements along with the security updates normally provided as part of “Update Tuesday”. So despite rumors and speculation, we are not planning to deliver a Windows 8.1 “Update 2”.Brandon LeBlanc

So what will this update on August 12 include? Not much to be honest, your usual bug fixes and behind-the-scenes improvements, plus these new features:

Precision touchpad improvements – three new end-user settings have been added: Leave touch pad on when a mouse is connected; allow right-clicks on the touchpad; double-tap and drag.

Miracast Receive – exposes a set of Wi-Fi direct APIs for Independent Hardware Vendor (IHV) drivers or OEM drivers to develop Windows 32-bit applications that run on all supported x86-based or x64-based versions of Windows 8.1, enabling the computer as a Miracast receiver.

Minimizing login prompts for SharePoint Online – reduces the number of prompts with federated use in accessing SharePoint Online sites. If you select the “Keep me signed in” check box when you log on for the first time, you will not see prompts for successive access to that SharePoint Online site.

This update will be delivered automatically via Windows Update and optional through WSUS. Enterprises can take the update anytime. So keep calm, and carry on waiting for Windows 9 I guess